Get Ready To Rock!

Although I’ve played a multitude of musical instruments growing up, I’ve never actually successfully played a guitar. I’ve tried to play my husband’s guitar, but I can never seem to match up to his Kamehameha Schools quality of musical talents. Well, I found an idiot-proof guitar that I can now play with Guitar Hero, Harmonix’s latest game release.

If you enjoy playing musical instruments, interactive games such as Dance Dance Revolution or Karaoke Revolution or are just a pure Rock n’ Roll fanatic, you will love Guitar Hero. It is an exclusive PlayStation 2 game that gives you the thrill and excitement of being a rock star. No more “air guitar” action as you use the semi-realistic guitar controller to bang out your tunes. You can choose from multiple characters and jam at various concert venues that grow in size as your rock career progresses. You start your career at playing at small clubs and bars. Keep doing well and you’ll work your way up to stadiums and arenas.

The songs in Guitar Hero include 30 of the greatest rock hits ever made including songs made famous by legendary artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, David Bowie, Boston, Sum 41 or Audioslave. You can choose between four difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard and expert), eight characters that have a unique look and style (metal head to classic rocker), six venues and different two-player modes to give you some multiplayer fun.

The Guitar Hero controller features five multi-color buttons, a responsive strum bar and a working analog whammy bar. With the easy mode, you only have to deal with the leftmost fret buttons. The medium level adds on the fourth fret, and the hard and expert levels will have your fingers flying all over the place. While you’re doing sustained notes, you have to hold down the fret buttons (and this is when you can slap the whammy bar to alter your notes’ tones). If you whammy the star-shaped notes, those will help you build up a power meter, which you can use for a special score-boosting mode.

This all might sound complicated, but if you have the patience, it will probably take you a little under two hours to master it to the point you can play it comfortably. Since you don’t just get thrown into the game, the gradual increase in difficulty makes it manageable for everyone from novice to expert. In addition, Guitar Hero’s graphics look similar to a high school graffiti art style, so it almost psychologically simplifies the game and puts you into that punk rock mindset.

The Guitar Hero bundle comes complete with the Guitar Hero game and guitar controller. It is rated T for Teen and is available for about $70 (multi-player bundle is about $110 and comes with two guitars). Check out www.guitarherogame.com for more information and ordering details. Rock on!